Ducati Monster Forum

Coming from a part of the world where riding season is all year round, this preparing bikes for something like six months of lay-up is a an entirely new malarkey for me.

So I'm after a little advice from the colder climate experts on how best to prep bikes for winter garage storage.   I mean... should I leave the tanks full of fuel?  Should I drain 'em down instead?  Is some kind of fuel additive a good idea?

I'm not talking excessively cold sub-zero Celsius winterisation, just some guidance on how best to keep bikes in good order while they sit unridden for half the year.

Our tanks should be empty. Better yet, empty, clean, dry, warm and well ventilated.

Otherwise; dry, as in indoors. Roof and walls.

Remove plastic body panels and mount on living room wall. Or cover with a soft cover which does not move = scratch paint.


Drain the cooling liquid....

Plastic empty, particularly if you have alcohol laced fuel.  steel full with Stable or equivalent.  Change fluids. If possible, get bike off floor, if not fill tires to the pressure on the sidewall.  Cover with breathable material.  Or do what I used to.  Ride in the winter.

Agree with howie.

Would add to fog the motor to avoid top end corrosion.

I got nothin'.. ;D

Agree with fluid changes & draining the tank and would add to remove the battery & put it on an Optimate inside the house. And clean it really good prior to storing away. Maybe get some Corrosion-X/ACF50 for certain parts of the bike prone to surface corrosion such as fasteners, other hardware. I apply Corrosion-X to the fasteners with a little watercolor brush.

Fogging would be ideal but I didn't do it last year and felt bad that I didn't, and the bike's fine. But this year I will fog the engine. Plug the exhausts with old socks to keep creatures out. Cover the airbox somehow to keep creatures out. And for sure cover the bike with something to keep the dust off, like an old bedsheet.

Or insulate the garage and don't worry about it.   ;D

What temps are you expecting and for how long? Unless your garage temps are significantly below freezing for the duration, and/or particularly damp some of these steps seem excessive.

Revzilla advises against draining the tank as it can lead to corrosion and dried out seals. And no need to remove the battery if it's on a tender: https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/how-not-to-winterize-your-bike-9-mistakes-riders-make

If you can get ethanol-free gas, it's supposed to remain stable for up to 6 months.

Thanks guys, your cold blooded wisdom is much appreciated  [thumbsup] [thumbsup].

My garage is dry within and doesn't get sub-zero Celsius, it's not so much protecting against Siberian conditions - more just the duration of inaction over the colder months.   

I always use the lowest ethanol content fuel available, which here means 5% ethanol.  So I think after considering the collective advice I'll probably leave fuel in the tanks - plastic and steel - and add STA-BIL fuel stabilizer.  The Euro-spec M1100 tank is made from a different composition plastic than the distortion prone US-spec version (some might remember we discovered that during Ducatiz tank swelling investigation).

Bought me some Motul aerosol fogging oil which I assume I spray in the intake with the motor running (although lazy me just wants to squirt some through the spark-plug holes)?

Bikes have had their fluids recently changed, all will be shiny and clean prior to the Big Sleep.  Most of their wheels can be raised off the concrete with stands. 

I have an Optimizer battery tender which I rotate between bikes on a weekly basis, I think I'll continue to do that with the batteries remaining aboard the bikes.  Unless y'all can convince me of my folly? 

Although I assess critter infestation as unlikely here, I guess it's cheap insurance to find something to plug-up the exhaust pipe oriffices.... so that's also on the list of advised to-do's.

You're made of hardier stuff than me howie.......  My warm climate old body can't want to  [laugh]

Thanks again (and feel free to chime in some more if you really think my lazy short cuts will lead to no good).

Spray the fogging oil into both of the intakes, with the motor running, until it starts to smoke out the exhaust, then shut it down. It doesn't work to protect the intake valves if you squirt it into the spark plug holes.

I forgot the swelling gas tank thing was a domestic problem.

So the Griso is all ready for the winter lay-up (a winter lay-up where it'll be undergoing some cosmetic TLC and a few mods - but that's another story).  Shiny clean, fuel treated with stabiliser, engine treated with fogging oil  [thumbsup].

The Monster has been clean, shiny and under a cover for a while and it's up next for the rest of the winter treatment, but while I have the K&Ns off to fog the engine, I wanna show the air filters some love (more on that here: http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=79006.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=79006.0) )

The Multi though.... yeah it's clean and sure, it'll get some fuel stabiliser added.... but engine fogging?  Not gonna happen.  The journey to remove the air filter is not something I can honestly be bothered with (when it was replaced not so long ago).  Wanna see what I mean?  Here's your url (from 1:25 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15O1BMofWrE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15O1BMofWrE)

Yep.